Custom Bats Cricket Forum

Equipment => Bats => Topic started by: Damo1583 on December 01, 2009, 10:14:09 PM

Title: M&H Distinction
Post by: Damo1583 on December 01, 2009, 10:14:09 PM
I have ordered one of these today. Saw it last week and it is an absolute masterpiece, I have been shopping around for a couple of months and looked at loads and loads of bats and nothing has even come close to this beauty. Nine (straight as a guardsmans crease) grains, amazing profile and very high spine on a low middle, 2lb 12oz's but picks up like 2lb 9oz. due on friday and will post picks then..........Can't wait!
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: SillyShilly on December 01, 2009, 10:18:05 PM
Early christmas present to yourself? Nice bats and i like the graphics but not the price!
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Damo1583 on December 01, 2009, 10:19:07 PM
£240 is not a bad price for that quality mate!
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: SillyShilly on December 01, 2009, 10:22:47 PM
Sorry but i could never personally justify that amount of money on a bat - i dont doubt it's quality and im sure you'll look the mut's nuts strolling out with it - hope it's a good'un!
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: GJ on December 01, 2009, 10:27:07 PM
Havent even seen their new bats yet... where are you ordering from?

£240 is a pretty hefty price ;D
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: slogger02 on December 01, 2009, 10:28:10 PM
the distinction is there only new bat, replacing the retro.  but in essence its the same but with gold labels.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Damo1583 on December 01, 2009, 10:29:45 PM
I can understand that mate, and it is alot of money but imo it is more about how it will play and it seems a gun from the couple of knock ups i had in the shop. I am 35 now so this will do to add to my enjoyment of the game for a couple of seasons......just got to keep it away from the missus.....lol
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: SillyShilly on December 01, 2009, 10:52:07 PM
well be sure to whack some pics of it up when it arrives, i saw the bat at the tradeshow and i must admit it's a very well spent £240!
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: ianbuchanan on December 01, 2009, 10:55:50 PM
saw one in the shop 2 weeks ago, beaut!
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Beachcricket on December 02, 2009, 10:28:19 AM
Stickers look nice, hope it's a belter.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Ayrtek Cricket on December 02, 2009, 10:45:06 AM
Saw a couple of these in Globe in Bristol the shape on the back look like a whale fin behind the middle, hugeee!!! picked up like it wasnt even there though! Very nice bat but priced at £300 it would need to be
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Watsontotty on December 02, 2009, 08:31:38 PM
No way in this world i would part with £300 for any bat no matter who had made it or used it etc, in my opinion no way can any bat warrant that price tag.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: hell4leather cricket on December 02, 2009, 08:35:34 PM
i saw some  salix's yesterday for £300, it is alot of money and the end of day we all buy willow for the same money.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Tom on December 02, 2009, 08:45:27 PM
Salix have to sell at £300 to make their margins with them selling through retail.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: niceonechoppy on December 02, 2009, 08:48:34 PM
Really? And yet so many companies can easily sell a G1 bat for £115 posted (solitaire).
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: SillyShilly on December 02, 2009, 08:49:43 PM
Grade 1 cleft  = £60-£70
Stickers = £5-10
His time (debatable) = £20 a bat
Total = no more than a £100 (maximum)

Price they sell at = £300 - surely the margins dont account for that huge gulf in the price?

I wouldnt know anything about the costs of going through retail but does it really mean he has to charge that much?
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Watsontotty on December 02, 2009, 08:52:40 PM
Perhaps a few forum members will remember a company trying to sell and market a bat at £300 or over,i wont mention the name however they were ridiculed for it and as far as I'm aware no longer around. They even tried to justify the price making endless references about technical advancements in there handle etc etc. They were never the size of Salix or M&H or anywhere close however it seems that the general public will allow bigger companies to charge ridiculous rates.

In my opinion we should not accept price tags of £300 and force the unregulated cricket industry to consider its position and offer value for money on there products across the board. In the past i have mentioned price fixing which i believe is common place amongst the bigger brand names in attempts to force the retail price higher and higher. Have a look at the so called bigger brands and see how there top end products are of a similar price which wasn't the case a few years back.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Tom on December 02, 2009, 08:55:48 PM
Grade 1 cleft  = £60-£70
Stickers = £5-10
His time (debatable) = £20 a bat
Total = no more than a £100 (maximum)

Price they sell at = £300 - surely the margins dont account for that huge gulf in the price?

I wouldnt know anything about the costs of going through retail but does it really mean he has to charge that much?
Retail take roughly 50%. So Salix would sell to whoever @ £150.

Hell4Leather, SAF sell at £180ish as they feel that's what it's worth for their time and effort. Kember and Keeley probably feels the same about their bats.

If you don't like the high prices buy from a small company direct.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: SillyShilly on December 02, 2009, 08:57:00 PM
I didnt realise it was that much.....thats a fair wedge!
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Tom on December 02, 2009, 08:57:44 PM
Really? And yet so many companies can easily sell a G1 bat for £115 posted (solitaire).
So many = 1

The majority of others who sell direct charge roughly £180 for a G1 bat.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: The Finisher on December 02, 2009, 09:01:33 PM
im about to buy an m and h original these good bats ?
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Watsontotty on December 02, 2009, 09:03:41 PM
Bit strange how the majority all roughly charge the same price ?
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Tom on December 02, 2009, 09:05:15 PM
Bit strange how the majority all roughly charge the same price ?
Not really, why would you sell drastically cheaper and reduce your margins when you can keep prices close to the competition and still sell a huge amount. Cricket is very brand loyal sport, there's no need for GN, GM etc to slash prices and undercut the others.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: petehosk on December 02, 2009, 09:07:04 PM
I have an older M&H Original and its superb. And have a new M&H Harlequin thats a beaut. So they tend to make great bats.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: The Finisher on December 02, 2009, 09:11:01 PM
cheers pete buying it saturday so will post pics then
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Watsontotty on December 02, 2009, 09:16:05 PM
Not really, why would you sell drastically cheaper and reduce your margins when you can keep prices close to the competition and still sell a huge amount. Cricket is very brand loyal sport, there's no need for GN, GM etc to slash prices and undercut the others.

Disagree with you its a bit like the old sheep symdrome, not asking for them to all slash the prices just try and offer value for money rather than well they charge it so i will too. Would be nice to see them do something slightly different for a change but that ain't going to happen.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Tom on December 02, 2009, 09:18:55 PM
It ain't going to happen as they have such a huge market share that prices can continue to stay very similar and increase. The only way it will change is if there's companies like Redback, Fusion and Hell4Leather begin to take huge chunks from them.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Tom on December 02, 2009, 09:24:38 PM
Look at it this way:

Brand X has 20% of the market share at 80,000 bats sold per annum. If they reduce prices for 2010 by an average of £20 (20% from ave. bat price of £100) throughout the range they've instantly lost £1.6m of revenue.

To recoup that back they need to sell another 20,000 bats at an average of £80 to recoup those lossses. That's another 5% of the market they need to gain, which is huge.

And that's assuming all other aspects of the bat stay the same price, it's not uncommon for raw bat costs from India, VAT, stickers and willow to increase year from year.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Watsontotty on December 02, 2009, 09:27:25 PM
Well in the current climate and global trading difficulties experienced by millions of people and companies across the world surely its fair enough to expect they could look at offering better value and adjust costs slightly. Most business I'm deal with have been hit badly by the recession and the economic slowdown and i know my margins have been hit and we all have had to look to reduce our costs and offer better value to our customers.

Perhaps the cricket industry feels its recession proof but many other sports companies have felt it around the globe.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: tommy2tink on December 02, 2009, 11:03:12 PM
Is it possible to buy direct from Salix for much less than the RRP?
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: GJ on December 03, 2009, 04:56:50 PM
If you buy direct from salix it will be quite a bit more than shop prices.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Damo1583 on December 03, 2009, 08:15:39 PM
Picking up the bat tomorrow morning.......can't wait!
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: GJ on December 05, 2009, 04:53:02 PM
did you get your bat? Interested to see what the new profile is like...
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Damo1583 on December 05, 2009, 09:20:29 PM
Got to wait a week, payroll cocked up my bonus. Rest assured I will be picking this little beauty up on friday. Got £50 deposit to secure it for me......
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Damo1583 on December 11, 2009, 06:37:43 PM
Finally got it today.......and absolutly chuffed, 2.10lb and balanced to perfection, pings like a rocket on the mallet aswell!!

Here are the pics.....

(http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/damo1583/DSC00132.jpg)

(http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/damo1583/DSC00133.jpg)

(http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/damo1583/DSC00134.jpg)

(http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/damo1583/DSC00135.jpg)

(http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/damo1583/DSC00136.jpg)

(http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/damo1583/DSC00139.jpg)

(http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr17/damo1583/DSC00140.jpg)

Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: GJ on December 11, 2009, 06:40:26 PM
Looks quite an interesting shape, not one for me i'm afraid.

But new labels look excellent, Salix released some that were similar to this.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: petehosk on December 11, 2009, 06:43:23 PM
Love the labels, love the shape. And I bet it drives like a rocket!
Have fun with that mate!
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: SillyShilly on December 11, 2009, 06:46:11 PM
I saw these in the workshop today and they have absolutley monstrous middles and they pick up extemely well, probably because they do a fair bit more concaving than they used to.........if they didnt you would end up with a 3.2lb railway sleeper.

Really nice looking bat - let us know how it goes, any christmas present will be down hill after this little treat!
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: petehosk on December 11, 2009, 06:51:23 PM
Yep - ditto from Shillys comment - def let us know how it goes!
May be one to purchase next season. Will be interesting to see what the review is like in OAC or Wisden for this bat!?
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: SillyShilly on December 11, 2009, 06:53:32 PM
Always worth phoning them up and asking if they have any seconds bats, one's with pressing cracks or returns as they will ofter churn these out around the ton mark purely because of cosmetic imperfections........could save you £100!!!
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Damo1583 on December 11, 2009, 06:54:35 PM
Looking forward to knocking it in, they say that it has been oiled and knocked in at the workshop. But i will give it about four hours over the weekend then have a net with the bowling machine on wednesday.....
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Watsontotty on December 11, 2009, 06:56:04 PM
In my opinion neither of the two publications you mention have a clue so i take no notice of the reviews although it provides me with 30 mins of comical reading.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: Watsontotty on December 11, 2009, 06:57:40 PM
Very interesting shape on this bat in a way it reminds me of the GM Diamond shape but will surely be better in every way.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: SillyShilly on December 11, 2009, 06:59:02 PM
I dont think they realise that many of the bats they test come from a few workshops anyway - it's a completely flawed testing system and needs an overhaul - having said that, it can be a stepping stone for some of the smaller companies.
Title: Re: M&H Distinction
Post by: leeroy_acko on December 12, 2009, 08:42:17 AM
that bat looks massive, a bit like a county reflex used to look like. Impressive, and like the stickers. they do look smart these days i reckon.